Interested in linked data, BIBFRAME or MARC news from the recent ALA Midwinter 2016 in Boston? I've written up minutes to several of the meetings I was able to attend during the conference, and these should be of particular interest to folks with an interest in encoding standards.

Some trends:

Full BIBFRAME implementation remains on the horizon, though closer than before.

MARC is definitely not dead, though it definitely is eyeing a linked data future.

Small linked data projects abound, and they seem closer to knitting together to form useful interfaces and tools.

Some linked data practitioners are getting more interested in the social space around their work, and are looking closer at issues of diversity, inclusiveness and privacy.

One revision affects 2.15.3 (Plate Number for Music). When a plate number on a score has an additional number (often after a dash) corresponding to the number of pages or plates, it is to be recorded as part of the plate number instead of ignored. The plate number may optionally also be recorded without this additional number. For example:

028 22 23009-11 $b Carl Fischer

028 20 23009 $b Carl Fischer

Further revision was done to 7.13.3 (Form of Musical Notation). The August release included new guidance about MARC encoding for multiple designations of form of musical notation as well as new examples. The October release adds new guidance covering details of form of musical notation as well as new examples. There is now sufficient guidance for cases such as chord symbols, chord diagrams, verbal instructions, etc.

Typos and various other errors were corrected both in the BPs themselves (accessible only via the RDA Toolkit) and in thesupplements(accessible via the MLA CMC website).

Thanks to everyone who was involved in this effort.

Addendum:

The August release included new guidance for 3.16.3 (Recording Medium) that was not publicized. Recording medium ("optical," "magnetic," etc.) should now be recorded as applicable, in MARC 344 $b. As an example, the full array of 34X values for a typical CD with stereo playback is as follows:

The August 11, 2015 update of the RDA Toolkit included some revisions to MLA’s Best Practices to bring it in line with revisions that were made to the RDA instructions in the April update. Some BPs have been deleted; some BPs have been relocated; some BPs have been renumbered and/or relabeled (see especially the 6.14.2 area); some BPs have been revised. A few additional revisions unrelated to the April update of the RDA instructions were also made to the BPs.

Highlights of the August 11 update include improved guidance and examples for 2.4.1.1 (Statement of Responsibility—Scope), 2.11 (Copyright Date), and 7.13.3 (Form of Musical Notation). The new guidance at 2.4.1.1 does broaden the scope a bit, and the new guidance at 2.11 restores historic practice for recording the latest phonogram copyright date that can be determined to apply to a resource as a whole.

Typos and various other errors were corrected both in the BPs themselves (accessible only via the RDA Toolkit) and in the supplements (accessible only via the MLA CMC website). A few new ones were introduced, too, but we’ll get ‘em next time!

Gordon Dunsire, chair of the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA (JSC), gave a presentation at ALA about the new governance structure of RDA. Transition to the new structure will begin this year and end before 2020. See his slides for more information.

The FR conceptual models (FRBR, FRAD, and FRSAD) are being consolidated into a unified model, tentatively called the FRBR-Library Reference Model (FRBR-LRM), which is expected to be ready for worldwide review in early 2016. See the IFLA paper for more information.

The MLA Cataloging and Metadata Committee is pleased to announce the availability of two new resources for users of the new terms for music resources in the Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials (LCGFT):

1) MLA Best Practices for Using LCGFT for Music Resources (version 1.0).

This resource is intended to help catalogers apply LCGFT music terms in the interim period between the release of the terms and the publication of best practices for LCGFT in the forthcoming Library of Congress genre/form terms manual. It will be updated on an ongoing basis until the aforementioned manual is available. Suggested additions or questions may be directed to the Chair of the MLA-CMC, Vocabularies Subcommittee (Casey Mullin, casey@mullingroup.com) or the Chair of MLA-CMC (Beth Iseminger, beth.iseminger@gmail.com).

2) A hierarchical view of music terms in LCGFT.

By popular request, this document shows all of the currently-available LCGFT music terms in one linear hierarchical listing. Terms that overlap into other sections within LCGFT (e.g., general terms, literature terms) are also shown in those contexts. This resource is intended to complement the interactive environments--Classification Web, LC Authorities, LC Linked Data Service, OCLC Connexion--where LCGFT terms are already available.

As the music vocabulary within LCGFT grows and develops, this document will be updated as appropriate.

The Music Library Association is the
professional association for music
libraries and librarianship in the United
States. Founded in 1931, it has an
international membership of librarians,
musicians, scholars, educators, and
members of the book and music trades.
Complementing the Association’s national
and international activities are eleven
regional chapters that carry out its
programs on the local level.